Logan McCulloch was fatigued and feverish for months before he realized the cause: Lyme disease.

He was misdiagnosed by multiple doctors.

Now, more than a year after starting to feel healthy again and two years after his diagnosis, McCulloch is hiking the entire Appalachian Trail, to spread word about the disease, the research into it and how often it is misdiagnosed.

“It's part of the reason why I’m doing the trip,” the Ohio resident and Kentucky native said Friday during an interview in Wind Gap. “The myth is that Lyme disease doesn’t exist in the southern states.”

McCulloch said he contracted the disease in 2011 around the time he found 20 deer tick nymphs on his leg during a camping trip at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. But he disregarded it, until the symptoms started.

Caused by bacteria transmitted by ticks, Lyme disease causes typical symptoms that include fever, headache, fatigue and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system.

He sold his home and most of his possessions and started out on a hike he has always wanted to do for a cause. The trail has taken him through Connecticut, home to the towns of Lyme and Old Lyme where the disease got its name.

“Every coffee shop that I stopped in Connecticut, almost every person had a Lyme story,” McCulloch said. “Why in the world isn’t this being talked about more with public health officials?”

McCulloch stayed last week with Bambi Albert, of Nazareth. The two became friends over the Internet after finding each other through activist groups for Lyme disease.

Albert was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2005 after receiving a tick bite in her back yard, and afterward had a Lyme-related stroke. She was in the hospital for several weeks for treatment.

She said she could’ve had Lyme disease eight years previous to that infection and didn’t realize the symptoms.

McCulloch said two different tests used to detect Lyme disease often come back without a real determination. The symptoms often mimic symptoms of other illnesses, making it tough to diagnose, he said.

Following his Northampton County stop, McCulloch planned to resume his southbound hike today. Once reaches Pine
Grove Furnace State Park, about 30 miles southwest of Harrisburg, he'll pass the halfway point of the 2,174-mile Appalachian Trial linking Mount Katahdin in Maine and Spring Mountain, Ga.

While out on the trail, McCulloch is filming videos and posting them on YouTube to explain different topics with Lyme disease. He is also keeping an online journal of his travels and stories.

McCulloch said by the time he finishes his hike, hopefully by December, he wants to make more people aware of the disease’s prevalence and know how to check for symptoms.